antonywilliams.com

What happened with the traditional 'Go out to watch a film on the weekend' mentality?
I'll tell you.
I went to watch Indiana Jones 4 yesterday (which I thought was pretty decent, and while not fantastic, was certainly a worthy sequel).
So, what happened?
For almost as much as the price of a DVD, you buy the cinema ticket, hoping to be able to stroll in and peacefully watch your film.
The reality?

You show up. There's popcorn already plastered over the seat that you're not even guaranteed to get.
You sit down. The claimed start time really just means the start of 15 mins of ads.

So, you have two options. Arrive early, get a seat, and watch 30 mins of ads, or get there when the film starts, and you can't get a decent seat.

So, about the ads. When watching TV, it's understandable, as the free feature is being subsidised by those ads. But how about when you're paying to see it? Should they continue to make money off of you?
So, you pay for the ticket and then they make a fortune by charging ridiculous amounts for any food/drink (and don't allow you to bring in any, thus eliminating their need to maintain reasonable prices), but, they also make a bunch of money from the ads they show.

one word: ridiculous.

So, what does this have to do with the Wynnsong?
Let me tell you.
We're past the 'start' time, watching ad after ad, when some employees bust in, turn off the sound and announce that they're collecting money for a charity (they fail to mention which).
They lay a guilt trip on us about how their goal was to collect $12,000, and are a long way off (to which my brother says 'it's not our fault you set your goal too high!').
They stay there for at least 5 mins hassling everyone. meanwhile, we've probably missed the last 10 ads.

What does this matter?
Not only are they soliciting for some unknown charity, but they're actually stealing at the same time.
No, I'm not talking about the audiences money. I'm talking about they advertisers money.
The advertiser paid a lot of money for their product to be shown before the feature film. Wynnsong gladly accepted the money, and then stopped the audience from watching it.

In my book, that's stealing.

In today's day and age, I soon see the day when Cinema's will become extinct. They're just pointless.
With Hi-Def TVs, and broadband internet, I'd much rather stream the film and watch it at home.
And, I can watch Indiana Jones 4 in the allotted 124 mins, instead of sitting next to people who smell like cheap butter popcorn for 3 hours.

Since its name is extremely vague, and gives you no idea whatsoever it is, I'll explain.
It's kinda like a white trash gym. High school kids come with girls and show off as they show how heroic they are by showing their incredible ability to jump off a trampoline into a foam pit.
Really, it's like that.

Fortunately for me, I went with a group of friends, so it was ok.

What's ridiculous is how they try to make a trampoline sound sophisticated by calling it 'progressive power tumbling.'

Is it progressive?
no

Is there any electricity, motors, or 'power' anything ?
no

Is there any tumbling?
well, there's jumping.

The problem is that not only are car salesmen liars, but some are either not very intelligent, or just pretend to not understand valid questions.

I'll walk you through my dad's attempt to buy a car.

We discussed (beforehand) exactly what kind of car my dad wanted.
My dad wanted a 2007 Infiniti G35, in any colour but white.
I believe it to be by far the best sports sedan available for ~$30,000
It's rear wheel drive, has 306 bhp, a 20 gallon tank, Bose sound system, Slip differential, and tons of other cool gadgets.

The reason my dad wanted a 2007 is cause that's the year they did the redesign, and he wanted to get one that was about a year old, as you can save around $6k.

So, we saw a nice G35 at Riverton Chevrolet

The website claims "the exterior is flawless."
In fact, checking the site now STILL shows the claim of being flawless
My dad went up and test drove it. He really liked it.
The problem is, the exterior was FAR from "flawless."
It had a really thick scratch on both passenger doors.
Can you believe my dad had to argue with them to repaint it ?
Their initial response was "Oh, someone must has banged it opening their door."
who care why it happened! the point is, they were advertising the car which they claimed to be flawless for a certain price, and were still charging the same price with scratches. Ridiculous!
After some discussion They agreed on $30,500 OTD (Out the door, including all taxes and fees), providing they fixed the scratches on the door.
He said he didn't want to buy it until I test drove it also. He asked them to hold the car for him until tomorrow, when he could bring me.

I went up with him. I was the one who recommended he look at getting a G35, so obviously I was keen on him buying it. We basically went there planning on buying it right there and then.
I test drove it. It was fantastic.
My dad goes in, to basically buy it.
He says to them.
"What's your price?"
They tell him $30,700. $200 more than they'd told him the day before.
My dad obviously complains and they give some pathetic excuse.
Get this though, they then acted like they were doing him a huge favour to 'knock it down' to the previously agreed $35,000.
disgraceful.
Anyway. Annoyed at this point my dad says
"I'll buy it if you fix the scratch"
they say
"We'll fix it, but we can't guarantee it will look flawless"

They wanted him to pay for it now, and pick it up a few days later after it had been fixed.

So, my dad asked the obvious question.
"What's the guarantee that after I pay for it, you'll make an effort to really fix it?"
Obviously, once they've sold it, who's to say they care about you?
The salesmen gave some ridiculous pitch about caring about their customers.
Yea right, like my dad's going to just take his word for it...

So, my dad come up with an alternative solution.
"Why don't you first fix it, and I'll come back and look at it, and if it's fixed to my satisfaction, I'll buy it."

Now, honestly, doesn't that seem like an extremely reasonable thing to ask?

This was the response he received:
"We actually have another customer coming to look at the car tomorrow, so if you don't buy it now, we'll sell it to him"
(even though he'd supposedly held the car for us)
my brother muttered under his breath just loud enough for the salesman to hear "I'm sure you do."

What kind of ridiculous attempt at intimidation is this?

Then, he came up with another genius response.
"We would be taking a risk by fixing it. What if we pay to fix it, and then you don't want it? Then we've lost that money."
Is it as obvious to the rest of you as it is to me that this salesman is a complete idiot?
So, he's saying that if we didn't buy it, he'd be worse off, because they'd now have a better car????
Is this guy an idiot?

Well, to cut a long story short, my dad just walked out. The guy was really pretending they had another buyer.

Funnily enough, this was 2 weeks ago. You guessed it, it's still there. Still available. Still scratched.

How on earth does a car salesman manage to not sell a car to someone who actually wants to buy it at the asked price???
It's like a teacher who makes you forget what you've learnt.

All I can say is be careful when buying a car. Especially of those claiming that every car you're looking at has other interested potential buyers. Especially of Riverton Chevrolet.

[EDIT] My dad did offer to put down a deposit for the car while they fixed it, which they didn't accept. As I'd mentioned, they told him they had another buyer, so obviously, they had to pretend that his definitive buy would be better than my Dad's deposit. They also said no to reducing the price and having us get it fixed.
Seriously, some people as so greedy they become stupid.